TV Recap: Top 5 Things You Need To Know About Episode 13 Of 'Vegas'

While Dixon investigates what appears to be an attempted murder, Sheriff Lamb and Katherine pursue an escaped killer in “Road Trip,” Episode 13 of Vegas, the hit CBS series set in Sin City during the 1960s. If you missed all the action Tuesday evening, here are the Top 5 things you need to know before tuning in next week. But be forewarned: This recap is loaded with spoilers.

ON THE RUN: Deeply concerned about the disappearance of Laura Savino – who was shipped out of town last week by Vincent, her husband, after he discovered she was a well-intentioned informant – assistant D.A. Katherine O’Connell seeks info about illegal activities at the Savoy by questioning Mr. Jones, the soft-spoken hit man who’s been in prison since Sheriff Ralph Lamb arrested him back in Episode 7. Jones agrees to help – but only if he’s provided with dental care, since his teeth aren’t in such great shape after altercations with fellow prisoners. Unfortunately, Jones is able to use his new braces to pick the lock of his handcuffs while being transported back to his cell. Even more unfortunately, he kills a couple of guards while making his escape. Katherine feels responsible – and not just because she missed while firing her handgun at the fleeing Jones – so she insists on going along for the ride as Ralph pursues the bad guy.

OUT OF THEIR ELEMENT: Bummed out after shipping off his wife – and eager to get out of harm’s way telling Johnny Rizzo that Mia, Johnny’s daughter, is the informant inside their organization – Vincent impulsively joins flunkies Red (James Russo) and Nick (Sonny Marinelli) as they drive out to a remote rendezvous with someone selling a stolen shipment of new and improved slot machines. When they’re 30 miles away from the meeting place, however, their car breaks down – and they’re forced to spend the night camped out in a singularly inhospitable stretch of desert. The next day, they’re fortuitously picked up by a horse rancher and his young daughter. Vincent and his flunkies aren’t happy about having to ride in a horse trailer – with a horse – but they’re grateful for the lift. Vincent strikes up a friendly conversation with the rancher’s daughter – who reminds him of his own kids, who are back with their mom in Chicago – and enjoys her description of the new book she’s reading, To Kill a Mockingbird, as a the story of a lawyer who defends a wrongly accused man. But the girl and her father are visibly upset when, during a service station stop, Vincent and the boys draw their guns and issue threats to chase off troublesome members of a motorcycle gang.

CRIME STORY: While taking a dip in Savoy pool, Deputy Dixon Lamb is the right man in the right place to save a drowning young woman. After she’s rushed to the hospital, however, doctors discover the rescued beauty -- Fay Bender (guest star Lili Simmons), member of a singing family act currently performing at the Savoy – had been poisoned before her dip in the pool. Dixon duly investigates, and questions assorted suspects. Ultimately, however, he deduces that Fay inadvertently poisoned herself while trying to eliminate her sister, another member of the act, in the hope of discouraging their father (who disapproves of Fay’s wild behavior) from booting Fay out of the group.

ENHANCED INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES: While on a routine call to the home of a woman who reported a possible intruder, Jack Lamb is in the wrong place at the wrong time when he’s blindsided by Johnny Rizzo, who’s convinced that his daughter Mia has been feeding inside info to the deputy. First, Johnny disposes of an inconvenient witness – the woman who falsely reported the home invasion – by giving her a syringe of tainted heroin. (When she collapses, it should be noted, he makes a self-incriminating remark about the drug-related demise of Diane Desmond.) Then, Johnny methodically applies a cattle prod to Jack, to discover just what his daughter has told the deputy. It’s a bad situation, and it doesn’t get any better even after Jack convinces the mobster that Vincent has set him up: Johnny intends to kill Jack anyway. Fortunately, the woman who took the seemingly fatal injection wakes up just in time to interrupt Johnny’s plans. Even more fortunately, when Johnny and Jack tussle, Johnny is fatally wounded by the deputy. Trouble is, Jack appears to instantly realize that Mia, his sweetheart, likely won’t take the news of her father’s demise (and his role in that demise) very well.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Vincent and the boys finally make it to their rendezvous – where they’re greatly disappointed (and seriously enraged) to discover a sleazy wheeler-dealer is trying to sell them French-manufactured slot machines that work only with francs. But the trip isn’t a total loss: While on the road back to Vegas – in a car they appropriate from the sleazy wheeler-dealer – Vincent and the boys come upon Mr. Jones, who’s still being pursued by Ralph and Katherine. Vincent, who hasn’t forgotten that Jones tried to kill him, has the hit man roughed up. But he doesn’t kill the guy. “You work for me now,” Vincent tells the beaten and bloodied Jones. “I own you.” Meanwhile, back at the police station, Katherine admits to Ralph that, during her shootout with the escaping Jones, she briefly thought about her deepest regrets – clearly indicating that she really, really would have hated to die without ever having expressed her love for Ralph. Maybe, just maybe, Ralph realizes what she’s talking about.

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